Scorching Weather, Drought Challenge China's Power, Water Supply

Scorching weather and the worst drought to hit parts of China in 50 years are challenging the country's power and water supply networks, said reports from several provinces and municipalities.

Hangzhou, capital of rich eastern Zhejiang Province, was forced to resort to a blackout August 15, the first for this summer, to avoid the breakdown of a power transmission line in the eastern part of the city, the local power supply administration confirmed.

With temperatures nudging 38 degrees Celsius on August 14 and 15, the city's electricity consumption reached a record 5.91 million kilowatt-hours, up 23 percent over the same period last year.

The Hangzhou power grid is facing a power shortage of 250,000 kilowatts and has little chance of buying electricity from neighboring provinces that are struggling to provide for themselves.

In Chongqing Municipality, where the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius August 16, many businesses have been told to suspend production in the afternoon and at night to ease pressure on the power supply network.

The scorching weather and drought will continue in most parts of central and southwestern China with meteorologists forecasting little rainfall over the next three days.

In Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, temperatures topped 39 degrees Celsius recently, the central meteorological station reported.

Searing heat and drought have created problems for the supply of drinking water in Chongqing and Hunan Province, leaving about 7.8 million people thirsty.

More than 7.5 million people in 40 counties in Chongqing have been panting for drinking water since severe drought started in mid May.

"The village well has dried up and even the dusty water at the bottom has been scooped up," said Gu Qixiu, a villager in Zhangguan town, Yubei District. "The townsfolk have been sending us water wagons and each family gets two buckets of water a day."

Gu said the arid cropland is unlikely to yield a cent this year. "Even sweet potatoes refuse to grow in the arid land."

"This is the worst drought to hit Chongqing in 50 years," said He Lingyun, a disaster relief official with the municipal government. "Two-thirds of the local rivers and lakes have dried up and more than 200 reservoirs are stagnant."

The water level in the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, dropped to 3.5 meters on Aug. 12, an all- time low since Yangtze hydrological data became available in 1892.

Drinking water shortages have affected another 270,000 people in central China's Hunan Province, where the mercury has been flirting with 40 degrees Celsius over the past few days.

Public health authorities in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, said that a 30-year old tourist had died of heliosis after emergency treatment failed.

The man, from northwest Qinghai Province, fell ill on the train and was rushed to a hospital when the train arrived in Nanjing.

With temperatures hovering around 36 degrees Celsius, despite occasional thundershowers, the city's meteorological department has urged citizens to take precautions during the heatwave.